Theatre blog + National Portrait Gallery | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog+artanddesign/national-portrait-gallery
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:39:52 GMT2015-03-03T20:39:52Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
If only today's actors were in the frame for a performance portrait | Michael Billingtonhttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/jul/29/actors-frame-performance-portrait
I can't wait to see the painting of John Philip Kemble as Cato at the National Portrait Gallery. It's time to revive this fine tradition<p>How do we recall great actors from the pre-machine age? Either by critical prose or by performance portraits. So it's thrilling to learn that the <a href="http://www.npg.org.uk/">National Portrait Gallery</a> has acquired a Sir Thomas Lawrence painting of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jul/29/john-philip-kemble-national-portrait-gallery">John Philip Kemble as Addison's Cato</a>. Both the actor and the play belong to history. But the portrait itself will give us a glimpse of the theatrical past.</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Philip_Kemble">Kemble is a fascinating figure</a>. Born in 1757, for many observers he was overshadowed by his contemporary Edmund Kean. Kemble was tall, stately and classical; Kean was short, mercurial and romantic. Kemble got a bad press, as an actor-manager, for raising admission prices at Covent Garden in 1808 after a disastrous fire: the result was a series of OP (Old Price) riots. Although never deeply loved by audiences, he did a lot to raise the standards of the English stage, had a genius of a sister in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Siddons">Sarah Siddons</a> and must have been tremendous to watch.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/jul/29/actors-frame-performance-portrait">Continue reading...</a>TheatreStageCultureArtArt and designNational Portrait GalleryPaintingWed, 29 Jul 2009 12:35:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/jul/29/actors-frame-performance-portraitNational Portrait Gallery/PR'Beauty and grandeur of the antique' ... portrait of John Philip Kemble by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Photograph: National Portrait GalleryNational Portrait Gallery/PRPortrait of John Philip Kemble, National Portrait Gallery Photograph: National Portrait Gallery/PRMichael Billington2009-07-29T12:35:00Z